William Giannobile  (Dean and A. Lee Loomis Jr Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection & Immunity, Harvard University, School of Dental Medicine)

Repair of bone and soft tissue defects in the oral cavity caused by periodontal diseases, trauma or tumor resection is a major goal of oral reconstructive therapy. The field of regenerative medicine combines advances in materials science and biology to repair tissues and organs. Bone tissue engineering has been achieved with limited success with the utilization of cell occlusive barrier membranes, space fillers, and block grafting techniques. The use of biologics and cellular therapies are available clinically to repair tooth and dental implant-associated bone defects.  This presentation will review emerging therapies in the areas of materials science, 3D printing, growth factor biology, and cell therapies.  Results from preclinical and human clinical trials will be presented using stem cells, 3D printing and growth factors.  The application of innovations in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and data sciences offer many unique applications in precision dental medicine.  

William Giannobile is the Dean of the Harvard School of Dental Medicine and A. Lee Loomis Jr. Professor of Oral Medicine, Infection and Immunity at Harvard University. He received his DDS and MS in Oral Biology from the University of Missouri. He later received his Certificate in Periodontology and Doctor of Medical Sciences in Oral Biology from Harvard University. He completed postdoctoral training in Molecular Biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the University of Genova Medical School Biotechnology Institute, Sapienza University of Rome, and the Eastman Dental Institute, University College London.

Dr. Giannobile’s continuously NIH-funded research program over the past 30 years has focused on Oral and Periodontal Regenerative Medicine, Tissue Engineering and Precision Medicine.  He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator to the NIH/NIDCR-supported Michigan-Pittsburgh-Wyss Regenerative Medicine Resource Center. The goal of the center is to translate early-stage dental, oral and craniofacial reconstructive technologies into clinical practice. He has produced over 300 manuscripts and patents focused on periodontology, regenerative medicine, and oral health research. He is the editor or co-editor of over 10 books focused on clinical, translational research, periodontology, and regenerative medicine. Dr. Giannobile served as the Editor-in-Chief for the Journal of Dental Research, the official journal of the International Association for Dental Research from 2010-2020. Dr. Giannobile has serves as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for Dental Devices since 2006. 

Dr. Giannobile received the received the Norton Ross Award for Clinical Research from the American Dental Association in 2019, Galileo Galilei Award in 2022 from the Italian Society of Periodontology, and the International Eminence in Periodontology Award, European Federation of Periodontology in 2023. Recently, he received the American Dental Association’s Gold Medal for Excellence in Dental Research in 2024. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Association for Dental Research, and the International and American Colleges of Dentists. In addition to his administrative and teaching responsibilities, he practices periodontics and implant dentistry at the Harvard Dental Center on the Longwood Campus.